Brazil approves 14GW of wind for auction

BRAZIL: Brazil's energy regulator has approved more than 14GW of wind projects for the upcoming A5 energy auction.

by Patrick Smith 20 November 2014

Brazil has almost 3GW of wind currently operating

Wind makes up almost half of the 29.2GW cleared by Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (EPE) to bid in the auction on 28 November.

The regulator approved 557 wind projects, with a capacity of 14.2GW, while solar accounted for 4.9 GW, spread across 179 projects. The remaining 10.1GW is made up of hydro, biomass, natural gas and coal.

All the successful projects will be required to be online from 2019.

The eastern state of Bahia attracted most wind bids, where 209 projects were proposed with a capacity of 2.3GW proposed in the state. This is followed by Rio Grande do Sul, with 105 projects.

The competitive auction will see developers place bids for the price per MW produced, with the lowest offers winning contracts. An upper cap of BRL 137/MWh ($53) has been set for wind.

Earlier in November, EPE agreed 31 new wind projects totaling 769MW in the country's sixth energy reserve auction.

The average price of contracts was BRL 142.34/MWh, 1.5% below the BRL 144/MWh limit.